THE BOY, THE FISH & THE PIG – A LESSON IN IMPARTIALITY

For the convenience of the readers, names have been assigned. The original story is narrated without any names. This week in one of the upanyasam I heard the following story which made me look at all life with love and compassion.

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Bhutatman was a young boy. He studied at a gurukulam along with his friends. His tuition was free. His guru not only taught them for free but, also provided them with free room and board.  The students helped their guru with everyday chores as a token of their gratitude.

One day, the guru assigned the task of washing clothes to Bhutatman. The young lad took the laundry basket and hurried towards a nearby stream. The water gurgled as it jumped across rocks in the stream. There were many varieties of fish which rushed back and forth playfully. Bhutatman jumped into the stream disturbing the fish. His guru had asked him to be careful while washing clothes in a stream. ‘We must never disturb or hurt other life,’ his guru had said. ‘Treat all life as you would treat yourself.'

‘They are just fish!’ thought Bhutatman. He didn’t understand why a lowly creature like fish must also be treated with respect. The boy thrashed around in the stream and started the wash the clothes. As he immersed the clothes in the water, some fish got trapped inside the folds of the clothes but, Bhutatman without paying any attention to the little fish, folded the cloth with the fish inside and squeezed the water from the clothes. The tiny fish trapped inside the clothes were mangled and killed. Tiny droplets of blood from the fish stained the pure white clothes washed by Bhutatman. The lad threw the washed clothes inside the basket and returned home.

‘Bhutatman, have you washed all the clothes? So quickly?’ Querried his guru. ‘Bring the basket over here. I will hang the clothes on the clothesline to dry.’ The guru picked a cloth from the basket and shook it in the air to straighten the folds and remove any water droplets left in the clothes. As he shook the clothes, dead fish fell down on the ground. ‘What is this!’ exclaimed the guru ‘How did these fish come here?’ The guru was horrified to see tiny drops of fish blood on the clothes.

‘Bhutatman!’ called the guru. ‘How did these fish die? I had told you to treat all life with respect and is this how you show respect?’

Bhutatman sulked. He didn’t understand his guru’s emotions. ‘They are just fish!’ thought the boy. ‘Tiny , worthless fish. What does it matter if they live or die!’ But, he didn’t dare to tell what he thought to his guru. ‘I don’t know how they died,’ answered the boy. ‘They must have got trapped in the folds while I was washing the clothes.’

‘Didn’t you even notice them? So careless!’ The guru was able to read Bhutatman’s thoughts. He felt angry and also sad to think that one of his disciples didn’t understand the value of life. ‘Your parents have named you Bhutaman, didn’t they explain the meaning of this name to you?’

The boy sulked and looked rebellious. 

‘As your guru, it is my duty to teach you the value of life. You have failed to treat all life equally. Very soon, may you take birth as a pig!’ cursed the guru. He gathered the clothes and returned to the stream to wash them.

Bhutatman looked horrified. There were tears in his eyes. He felt abashed and at the same time was also worried that his next birth would be that of a pig. His classmates gathered around Bhutatman to console him.

‘Did you hear how our guru cursed me?’ he asked with tears in his eyes. ‘I have to take birth as  a lowly pig!’

His classmates didn’t know how to console him. Taking birth as a pig didn’t appear to be a good prospect.

‘Pigs roll around in slime! They are nature’s scavengers and eat filth!’ cried the boy.

‘How can we help you?’ Asked Mangala. ‘If there is any way, we will definitely do our best to help you.’

‘Our guru cursed that very soon I should take birth as a pig. That means I have to die soon…’

‘Don’t say such things!’ exclaimed his friend Sudama.

‘But it’s true,’ sobbed Bhutatman. ‘How can anyone take rebirth without dying first. After I die, wait for a good opportunity when our guru is in a good mood. At that time, please find out my whereabouts from him.’

‘Do you want us to bring you here as our pet?’ asked Mangala. 

‘No, no,’ said Bhutaman. ‘As soon as you find my location, please come and find me. Bring heavy clubs with you and as soon as you see me, club me to death.’

‘But, that’s a sin!’

‘It’s not a sin if you free me from a lowly birth! Please promise me that you will kill me. What kind of a life will I have as a pig! If you kill me as soon as I take birth, I will get my freedom and could get a good life as a human being again.’

His classmates promised to help him. ‘Don’t worry, ‘ they assured him. ‘We will make sure you don’t live a long life as a pig.’

A few days later the boy succumbed to the curse and died. The classmates grieved for their friend. They wondered how long it will take for him to take birth as a pig. They found some heavy clubs and kept it ready to fulfil their promise. 

The classmates waited for an opportune moment. They didn't have to wait very long. One day, they found their guru in a jovial mood and they seized the opportunity and asked their guru about the fate of their friend.

'Your friend,' said the guru, ‘has taken birth in the next village as a pig. If you walk towards the outskirt of that village, you will come across a slum. In that slum lives a large sow with her twenty new-born piglets. Your friend is the twelfth piglet. He can be easily recognized as he is the only one who is white with a black tail and a  black left ear. '

Having ascertained all the details about their friend, the disciples grabbed hold of heavy clubs and started towards the birthplace of their friend.  They found the slum easily. ‘Disgusting!’ they cried.

 ‘Dirty, narrow paths!’ they grumbled as they trudged along the slushy path. Soon, they located the sow slushing around in a puddle with her twenty piglets. They found their friend, the only one with a black ear and a black tail playing with another piglet. The disciples raised their clubs and rushed towards the tiny piglet. They had to release their friend from this hellish existence so that he can get a better life. 

The tiny pig saw his former friends rushing towards him with clubs in their hands. At that moment, the piglet by the grace of the Vedic verses he had studied in his past life was not only able to recall his past life but was also able to speak with his former classmates.

The classmates stopped when the little pig yelled 'stop! Don't kill me!'

'It is for your own good,' they argued.

'I know I requested you to find and kill me but, at that time I thought that it will be a hellish experience to live as a pig but, look at me ' he pleaded.  'You see slime and filth but I see warmth and love. My mother dotes on me and she licks me with love. Look at my siblings, they all love me and we play tag and have lots of fun. I thought our guru had cursed me but he has only blessed me because I had never experienced such love and affection. Leave me alone. Let me enjoy the company of my family till the time allotted to me.'

Surprised by their friend's speech, the disciples left the little pig unhurt in his new home. The moment they entered their school, their guru welcomed them.

‘I know where you have been. If you had asked me, I could have saved you a trip. Now, did you learn the value of life? Every creature finds happiness in its existence and it is not right to discriminate against them just because they are not human beings like us.’

Author’s Note:

I chose the name of the boy as Bhutatman to remind everyone about God who exists within all beings as their inner soul. Bhutatman is the eighth name in the Sri Vishnusahasranamam. Perumal is called as Bhutatman because He exists as the inner-controller within all beings. As the inner controller, He supports all beings. He also controls them. Just like our soul controls our body and supports it from within, Lord Narayana resides in all souls and supports and controls them. One who realizes Lord Narayana as the “antaryami” of all souls will not discriminate against any creature and will treat every being with love.

In this society, people fight over differences. The differences we see are in the body we have attained in this birth but, internally all souls look the same and are equal to one another in every way.

As per our past karmas, we take birth as men and women while some as animals, plants , birds and even insects. Through this story we know that the dog or cat we see on our daily walk may have been human like us in its pastlife. Whatever karma it accumulated in its past existence has given it the life of an animal. The animals, birds and plants we see around us are not different from us. We are all the same on the inside. The form we take is just like a dress. It is silly to hate someone because of the dress they are wearing. We should love all and be compassionate. The intent of this story is to promote real world peace and promote love for all beings. 

the Lord of the Universe, Krishna exists as antaryami in each and every one of our hearts even if we are sinners. He loves us and never abandons us. He has accompanied us on every one of our births. He stays with us as antaryami and witnesses our acts waiting patiently for that moment when we may turn to Him for help. This is indicated by the following verse (11.11.6) in Srimadh Bagawatham.

suparnav etau sadrisau sakhayau

yadricchayaitau krita-nidau ca vrikshe

ekas tayoh khadati pippalannam

anyo niranno 'pi balena bhuyan

There are two birds that have made a nest on a

tree. One bird eats the fruits present on the tree

and grows weaker while the bird which does not

eat the fruits stays stronger.

The above verse also indicates that the two birds are friends. The tree is our body. The bird which eats the fruit is the jeevatma and the fruit itself arises due to our karma. The other bird is Paramatma. He patiently waits near His friend the jeevatma waiting for him to get tired of eating the fruits and turn to Paramatma with the desire to go back to Him. Lord Krishna is the true friend of the jeevatma and accompanies the jeevatma in every one of its births even if the jeevatma takes birth as an insect. The word “balena” in the above verse shows that Perumal remains unaffected even when He accompanies us and stays within us as our antaryami. His qualities and potencies remain unaffected.

People fight over their religious faiths. Many mistakenly believe that only people of certain faith attain salvation while all others go to hell. This is not true. Salvation is available to every being including plants and animals. The cycles of births we take as different beings is a learning program; we pass the course when we learn to treat all life equally with love. Discrimination and hate towards other beings including humans, animals and plants keeps us tied to this Universe while love for all creatures frees us from this Universe.

If you like this post, please share and spread the message of love and peace.